The Innkeeper

Henry knocked on a door filled with a nervous, yet excited energy. One way or another, this day would go down in Simple Life history, and Henry was already a part of it.

"Come in," said an unsteady voice from inside.

Henry entered to the sight of a worried looking man studying a piece of paper held by the manager. They seemed to be reviewing some numbers, and were whispering amongst themselves.

"Manager, I just came in to report that Mr. Lex has left the bag for the rank 3 commissions and has gone out to complete the rank 4 commissions."

The manager and the other man both paled at the news, almost losing strength in their limbs.

"Didn't you tell him that we might not be able to pay him if he keeps on like this? Just the rank 3 commissions should make his income around 18,000 gold pieces. Rank 1 and 2 were still fine, but rank 3 is expensive. If he now goes and completes all rank 4 commissions we… we don't have that kind of liquidity!"

"I… I did. He didn't seem bothered by it. He said, at most, he'd just keep it in credit or maybe he'd just buy something from us. He… he also asked me to reward the appraiser with something to help keep them energized. I brought a list here for you to review before I disperse the rewards."

"Buy something… do you think he's after something in particular?" the manager asked the other man in a low voice? "Go get a list of our entire inventory. And I mean the entire inventory. There has to be more to the story than we know."

The other man quickly ran out of the room, as if his life depended on this task, while Henry came in and showed the manager the paper.

Lex, who was watching everything from far away, could not help but laugh. Yes, there really was more to the story than they knew about, but none of them would ever be able to guess his motives!

Soon, when the other man brought in another piece of paper with the inventory list, Lex read it to see if he could find anything interesting. He had to admit, there were quite a few interesting things on the list. But, most likely, the things that Lex found interesting are probably not what the Simple Life would have been expecting.

Lex chuckled. Well, not like he was done yet anyway. After rank 4 requests, there was the final tier of rank 5 requests.

There were only 4 rank 5 requests, and they all had something to do with a few Golden core beasts in the regions. He imagined that, after he completed them, the entire city would be shocked.

But that was just the beginning. He had to think of other things. Time passed while he planned, and the staff at Simple Life ran around, desperate to complete their tasks.

By now, rumors had already begun to spread, and at some point the staff members had let the matter leak that Lex was the one accomplishing all the commissions! To be fair, Lex was only doing the commissions related to hunting, so there were many others still left for anyone who wished to take some.

But even so, the chaos began to spread. Many even began running across town, delivering the news to a few specific groups who might be interested.

Amidst this mess, Lex returned. This time, his bag was much smaller as the number of commissions was naturally growing. Ironically, now, with the much smaller bag, Lex began to attract a greater deal of attention. After all, while it made no difference to Lex, the aura of the body parts contained within were still radiating ferocity with full force.

Even when some wanted to approach him, they were not able to, which made it very easy for him to pass through.

Henry was not around to welcome him this time, so he directly entered the private room to the sight of a dozen appraisers wiping their sweat and consulting one another. They had not yet finished checking the previous bag, despite whatever revitalizing drink they had been given.

"Mr. Lex! You're back!" Henry said out loud in surprise upon noticing him. He had been so busy he hadn't even realized an hour had already passed!

"Yes, and Henry, it seems like you held back. Go ahead, get the best of whatever you have available for them. It would be problematic if they collapsed half way through."

"The… the best… Mr. Lex how about you look through our inventory list and decide for yourself. I… I really can't…"

"Alright, alright, bring me the list. And here, someone take this."

Lex unceremoniously dropped the bag of body parts on the floor, as if it didn't contain exceedingly valuable parts.

Henry ran off, and returned only a few moments later holding a piece of paper. Behind him, his manager was also following though his pace was that of a normal stride as he tried to maintain a sense of dignity.

Lex glanced at the list, and pointed directly to something called Divine serum, which cost about a hundred gold per bottle.

"This one, it should have a revitalizing effect, right? Just give this to all of them."

"That? Is… I mean, are you sure? Isn't that a little overdoing it? That's for people with injuries that could lead to death. How about I suggest something?"

"No, the serum will be fine. They have a lot of work to do before they even get to the bag I just brought. If they're not full of energy, how are they going to manage when I go and get the final bag?"

"Final bag? You mean… you… you're still going back?"

"Of course I am," Lex said with a nod. "There's still some rank 5 requests left. I'll see you in an hour."

Lex nodded and left the room, and the manager who had arrived close enough just to hear the last part fainted.